Current Affairs Quiz-September, 2020

Notes:
British Racing Driver Lewis Hamilton has recently clinched his 90th Formula One win after winning the Tuscan Grand Prix Tournament.
Valtteri Bottas reaced within 1.1 seconds of Hamilton and finished second while Red Bull driver Alexander Albon finished third and clinched his first career podium. Hamilton can equal Schumacher’s record of victories at the Russian Grand Prix, as he is one win behind Schumacher.

Notes:
India has voted in favour of a COVID-19 resolution in the U.N. General Assembly (UNGA), along with 168 nations.
The resolution reaffirms international cooperation to respond to COVID. It also acknowledges the WHO’s leadership role during the pandemic. The U.S. and Israel voted against the resolution while Ukraine and Hungary abstained.

Notes:
The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) has approved the appointment of Sameer Kumar Khare as new Executive Director of Asian Development Bank (ADB).
The veteran bureaucrat has been appointed to the post for a tenure of three years. Sameer Kumar is a 1989-batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer. He is currently serving as Additional Secretary in the Department of Economic Affairs under Ministry of Finance.

Notes:
Senior bureaucrat Rajesh Khullar has been appointed as Executive Director of World Bank, Washington.
He is a 1988 batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer. He is currently serving as the Principal secretary to Haryana Chief Minister. He will have a tenure of three years at the World Bank.

Notes:
World Ozone Day or ‘International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer’ is observed on September 16 all over the world.
Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer was adopted and signed by 28 countries, on 22 March 1985. The theme of this year is ‘Ozone for Life’. This year also marks the 35th year of the Vienna Convention and 35 years of global ozone layer protection.

Notes:
The President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen delivered her first annual State of the European Union address.
During the address, she urged the EU members to build a stronger European health union. She also announced the creation of a new agency for biomedical advanced research and development (BARDA). She also proposed to convene a global health summit next year.

Notes:
India’s central Bank, t he Reserve Bank of India has issued draft guidelines on Interest Rate Derivatives (IDRs).
IRDs are contracts whose value is derived from one or more interest rates, prices of interest rate instruments, or interest rate indices. RBI has allowed foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) to undertake exchange traded rupee IRD transactions subject to an overall ceiling of Rs.5,000 crore.

Notes:
The United States of America issued a new advisory warning against travel to China and Hong Kong. US authorities have cited risk of “arbitrary detention” and “arbitrary enforcement of local laws.”
The advisory states that U.S. citizens traveling or residing in China or Hong Kong, may be detained without access to U.S. consular services. The advisory has also stated that, U.S. citizens may be subjected to prolonged interrogations and extended detention.

Notes:
India’s Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) has exited from Sudan after the country has refused to pay for oil it lifted from the fields.
The overseas investment arm of the state-owned oil company, ONGC Videsh (OVL) along with its Chinese partner CNPC and Malaysia’s Petronas have withdrawn from the oil fields. The African country had not paid USD 430.69 million for the Oil it bought from the block since 2011.

Notes:
Union Education Minister Shri Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank virtually conferred Second Utkrisht Sansthan Vishwakarma Award.
The USVA Award is being organized by All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) since 2019, to motivate AICTE approved institutions. This year, the theme of the award is “India Fights Corona”. College of Engineering, Pune won the award in the overall category.